Plenty to do without the distraction of recall

I was appalled to read that a group called Colorado Accountability has filed a recall petition with the secretary of state’s office to recall state Rep. Mike McLachlan.

From what I gather, this is not a local group, but a state or national bullying organization.

This outrageous attempt to intimidate McLachlan and anyone else who believes that it is time for our country to address its obsession with ridiculously powerful automatic “citizen” weapons illustrates well why our local school district is trying to educate young people about the dangers of bullying. Our society is supposed to value open and constructive dialogue as more valuable than threats and aggression.

I voted for McLachlan because I thought he had the experience, intellect and courage to address problems that need to be solved in our state. His actions thus far have demonstrated that I made the right choice.

We need to navigate a path between our constitutional right to bear arms and the need for greater protection from people who see violence with automatic weapons as a solution. I feel comfortable that McLachlan is trying to do that. The first step is to limit access to weapons so crimes of passion from those acting with irrational behavior are more difficult to perpetrate. Another important step is to address the need for an improved mental-health system gutted under the Reagan administration. Together, these steps are a start to turn our nation away from the destructive path of more and more extreme violence.

I support McLachlan as our duly elected representative. I would hope that cooler local heads prevail and don’t allow outsiders to tell us whether to support our local representative or not.

Please do not support this recall effort by signing a petition. Instead, let’s put our limited public financial resources and our focus toward solving some of the other significant problems we face, such as creating meaningful jobs, improving the economy and improving education for our young people. There is still plenty to do without the distraction of an unwanted and unnecessary recall effort.